Some college students are not bashful about sharing their opinions, and University of Pennsylvania’s dining services is using that candor to its advantage. The department employs a group of student secret shoppers to provide feedback on the performance of the operation, which is primary contracted to Bon Appetite.
The department, which officially kicked off the mobile-based feedback program during the 2014-15 school year, employs about 15 students to visit dining facilities throughout campus and provide details about the quality of food and service. Students are paid for each mobile survey they fill out, which is collected by a fellow student worker who sends information to Pamela Lampitt, director of business services, for review.
To gauge quality across various diets, Lampitt would seek out a few students who eat Kosher or vegan meals to provide feedback. She also trains students on her expectations in food preparation and customer service. Lampitt would also tweak various questions asked of the student-testers to ensure they generated useful feedback. “One of the things we learned is that we have to refine our questions,” she says. “It was a learning curve because they started to understand more about our process.”
When customer service issues arise, it’s addressed with Bon Appetite staff during team meetings. “It helps to open their eyes and keep these issues top of mind that may or may not be reoccurring,” Barta says.